The Principle of Appropriate Dress

Frankly, I am not a morning person. That's not to say I don't enjoy a beautiful sunrise or the sting of the cold autumn air or the taste of that first cup of coffee as much as the next guy, because I do. What I don't like about morning is it's proximity to last night. No matter how "early" I go to bed, morning kind of arrives "like a thief in the night". And if your mornings go anything like mine, they usually proceed according to a fairly predictable schedule.

0547 - Initial Alarm Sounding
0547 - Initial Snooze Button Smackage
0618 - Onset of Self-Awareness
0619 - Panic at realization that formation is in 11 minutes
0620 - Get dressed and hurry to morning formation with mere moments to spare
0630 – Morning Formation, Physical Training, etc.
0900 – Rest of day spent in sleep deprived haze

The trained eye will note that the first thing I "do" each day is get dressed. If I were a betting man I'd wager you get dressed pretty early on, too. It's an indispensable part of the day. And of course you must dress properly, i.e. warm clothes on cold days and cool clothes on warm days.

A good example of what I like to call "The Principle of Appropriate Dress" is going into battle. No one, except maybe the Cuban Ballet Brigade, enters a battle wearing a shocking pink tutu. Instead, the thinking soldier will wear something a bit more woodsy. If he does not, chances are pretty good he will die.

We dress our bodies in shoes, socks, pants, belts, shirts, hats, gloves, and any other number of items, while many times our spirits remain naked and exposed. The Bible says in Ephesians 6, "Be prepared. You're up against far more than you can handle on your own." In other words, don't forget to dress appropriately and completely each day. If your spirit is dressed in prayer, meditation, scripture, etc, you'll be prepared for the hassles that normally accompany a day at work, at home, in traffic, at the bank, or whatever.

The world we live in may soon dictate that you or I actually go to war. The question is we ready to fight? Without a doubt! To kill? If necessary! To die? That depends on how we're dressed.